1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to imaging devices, and more particularly, to methods by which imaging devices can determine or identify the type of a document to be scanned.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current imaging devices such as scanners or copiers often require users to specify the resolution, color mode, filtering, and other settings that are to be used when scanning an original document. Many users, however, do not know or understand these settings and many times choose incorrect or suboptimal settings for their original documents. When these incorrect or suboptimal settings are used by the imaging device, the users do not achieve the best performance from the imaging device for their original document.
Similarly, some imaging devices such as scanners require users to identify the type of original document or features of the original document to be scanned. The document type or features of the document specified by the user are then analyzed by the imaging device to determine the optimal settings to use when scanning the original document. Again, users may not understand the distinctions between the listed document types or features and therefore, do not select the appropriate document types or features. Therefore, an optimal scan of the original document may not be obtained.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method by which an imaging device may accurately and reliably identify the type of original document. There is also a need for altering the settings of an imaging device based on the identified document type.